Saturday, May 31, 2014
Second-Guessing
One of the most frequent problems I come across in counselling is second-guessing. This is defined as the "attempt to anticipate or predict". It can be a serious problem, not seldom ruining people's ability to function. I tell people that we are designed to be dependent creatures. We are designed to trust. We are not designed to take upon our own shoulders the burden of what might or might not happen in this world. Second-guessing needs to be turned over to God in prayer, continually if need be. OBSERVATION: This does not mean that one is not mindful of the future -- however, ideally one will be peacefully mindful.
Farm Life
This was my welcome recently when I visited a South African farm. It was a small home, rooms without doors, no bathroom or toilet, and no electricity or water (a tap / faucet about fifty yards distant outside). The first time that I visited here, and asked after the bathroom, everyone laughed. When I asked after the toilet, someone pointed out of a window, where I saw nothing but veld. OBSERVATION: Many people think that such conditions on farms are history. In my own experience, I have never seen anything else (except in the farmstead).
Friday, May 30, 2014
Thaba Patshoa School
I took this photo a month ago of the school in Thaba Patshoa in the eastern Orange Free State -- the village itself being on the left. I climbed about ten metres / yards up a water tower to take the photo -- not realising that all activities below stopped as people looked up aghast at me standing on top of the tank. Nearly twenty missionaries from several Churches ministered to some 150 children and youth at this school and on a farm in the distance.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
The Kids Of Today
This little girl, my niece, is 2 years and 2 months old. I am placing her photo on my blog for her special intelligence. Earlier this month, I saw her turn on a smart-phone, turn it on herself, and take "selfies" -- which gave her great pleasure. Her father told me of more sophisticated abilities with the phone. OBSERVATION: Many children are competent with smart-phones by age 5. Or maybe phones have become "child's play"?
'Silence Is Guilt'
I have sensed, through the course of ministry, a fast growing trend in our society to cover guilt with silence -- such that the Churches now have a saying here: "Silence is guilt". I never heard that one before -- although it was Dryden, in the 17th century, who said: "Secret guilt is by silence revealed." The natural response to guilt (or perhaps not) is: "I'm terribly sorry." That was the old-fashioned response. It involves risk, but it may be the best way (for mere expedience) to go: one could get it in the neck, but it tends soon to pacify. In many cases such an "I'm sorry" response, too, means that one has addressed the guilt with the person concerned. Even that doesn't seem to happen much today. OBSERVATION: Silence is of course a right -- and yet that does not in all cases (or in most cases) morally justify it. In some cases now, silence may in fact be used as evidence of guilt (last year, controversially, the Supreme Court in the USA so ruled).
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Matchbox Cracker
Gentle On Race
I recently attended an (evangelical) lecture on race in the Church. The lecturer said that, on the basis of our salvation, there is absolutely no distinction in the Church on the grounds of race -- and he powerfully drove home the point. He described a close relationship between salvation and non-racialism. But the lecture seemed to me to be altogether too general. I asked him afterwards what he did with ministry by members (the priesthood of believers) and office-bearers in the Church -- which is what it comes down to if you are serious about it. He said: "I confess that I tread very gently with that." See also the comment, below, under Ministry By Members.
Article Gestation
For one year, I have contemplated a paper on The Foundations of Ethics -- and read a fair deal on the subject -- say fifty articles in all, and extracts from hundreds more. This resulted in an essay as a spin-off -- at first rejected, then accepted, and very popular on the subject: Theonomy, Autonomy and Pneumonomy. Then, three days ago, my concepts came together for the original paper. I couldn't have written it until then. Wife E. said that it was time for bed. I said: "Wait! I have the concepts!" I filled a page with hand-written notes, then went to bed. Then I wrote the paper in the two days which followed. OBSERVATION: However, a paper needs maturation. It won't be submitted right away. In fact this is how it often goes with papers: very long gestation, then appearance in a blitz.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Fundamentals Of Preaching
On occasion, I have needed to coach people with preaching or speaking in Church. While there are many aspects to good preaching, here are some fundamentals that I myself have emphasised: 1. conceptual simplicity, 2. connecting the message to the text, 3. practical application, and 4. clear articulation. OBSERVATION: When the Church was decimated by the Invasions around 600 AD, it decided on a plan to reverse its losses. It was a historic turnaround. According to Church historian Henri Daniel-Rops, "The essential weapon was preaching" and the preachers were instructed "above all to refrain from bombastic pathos".
Giant Mushroom
Last year, our plot in Tesselaarsdal was peppered with lilies. This year, after the disastrous flood last November, there is only clover -- and yesterday there was this giant mushroom amidst the poplar leaves. The water, in November, rose to the foundations of the cabin in the background. OBSERVATION: The flood was the worst in living memory, after two dam-bursts. It was with some amazement that we saw the cabin still standing in the midst of devastation.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Pump System
The Story
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Ministry By Members
This is a repost, to give an idea of the typical, and considerable, 'wheeling' I have done as a minister to keep the trademark (for Congregationalists) ministry by members going: "The past two Sundays, I asked an elder to lead us in saying the General Confession, a young man to give a short salvation testimony, and our intern sang a song. In the weeks to come, there’ll be a Christian book review, a testimony which came about through great tragedy, a member's personal confession of sin, an item by our Youth Choir, a responsive psalm led by a young woman, a member will teach the congregation Christian basics, another will lead our Sunday prayers, and an elder will lead us in saying the General Thanksgiving. OBSERVATION: Several items above, on the surface of it, may not seem to include personal ministry. However, they include personal introductions. Such introductions often turn a mere 'item' into ministry. The introductions may be more important than the item."
Language And Set Theory
I had a new article published last week as a draft, in Philosophical Investigations: Language and Set Theory. It is more anecdotal than academic, but describes, I think, an important transition from 'structural' linguistics to 'relational' linguistics. OBSERVATION: My interest was first piqued many years ago when a professor of mine, anthropologist Paul Hiebert, wrote that words are fuzzy sets.
Birthday Party
Saturday, May 24, 2014
The Philosopher
Friday, May 23, 2014
Ministering To Little Ones
This one's just a pretty picture from the recent short-term missions trip I joined: missionaries ministering to children. In two locations, the missionaries ministered to three groups: children, pre-teens, and teens. There was a keen and lively response from all three groups. OBSERVATION: I was 'official photographer', so I moved around a lot to take photos. My final 'photo album' contained more than 60 photos, and was presented (not by me) at the Maloti Missions Training Conference which followed. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
CBL License Plate
Car number plates at the centre of the Little Karoo semi-desert begin with CBL. Some say it means: "Come Back Later" (nothing happening here right now). Some say it means: "Come Back Love" (presumably because she'd had enough of the tedium there). Or substitute women's names: Lisa, Lettie, Lara. OBSERVATION: My present parish is in the middle of the Little Karoo.
Difficult Customers
I was on my old urban turf yesterday, where a man said to me: "Thank you Sir for not being difficult like the other customers." I said to him: "I know the other customers!" This is a feature of urban life. One doesn't find such difficult customers, as a rule, in suburbia, or out in the country. For this reason, urban ministry requires mettle. OBSERVATION: I have often been asked the reasons for this. I have probably replied, most often, that urban dwellers lack the 'normal' interests of family, garden, pets, and so on. It tends to be a fragmented society.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
African Medicine
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NOTE: I witnessed this a second time in November 2014. The remedial effects of the woundwort were stunning.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Afrikaans Vowel Shift
It has been my sense that a great vowel shift has been under-way in Afrikaans, during our lifetimes. There was, in English, the Great Vowel Shift of 1350-1700. For instance, 'mouse' was once pronounced 'moose' (and still is by some). OBSERVATION: But I found nothing on the Internet about an Afrikaans vowel shift -- except this study by Daan Wissing (Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe): 'I found some indication of the presence of two different chronolects.' That is, different varieties of Afrikaans, separated by the age of the speakers. In my view, this includes a 'great vowel shift'. Take, as an example, the word 'jaar', until recently pronounced like the UK 'car' but now pronounced 'your'.
Foundations
Electronics ePub
Monday, May 19, 2014
Missions ePub
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Driving School George
I'm putting in a word here for my brother-in-law Jomo (pictured). A gentle, generous man, and an ordained evangelist, he gives driving lessons in and around the town of George, 430km / 270mi east of Cape Town. He has an unusually good record of putting candidates through driving tests, both in cars / automobiles and trucks. He is fluent in English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa. Contact him at jomo.drivingschool@gmail.com or 073-5689823. See also Heavy Moving.
Intercepted E-mail
Last week, a certain somebody intercepted one of my personal e-mails and placed it on the Internet. I e-mailed the person who tipped me off: "You're kidding!" He wasn't. I once asked opinion about this (and any such exposure). The answer: "It may not be illegal, but it is immoral." OBSERVATION: Mostly, I write personal e-mails as if they would be read by all. However, one shouldn't think that great care will always save one from trouble, as is true of anything in ministry. False interpretations may be pressed onto e-mails. E-mails may be quoted out of context (in whole or in part). And in rare cases, they may not be one's own e-mails, but forgeries or an appropriation of one's e-mail address. (Normally, one would place an e-mail "out there" with permission).
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Completed Draft
This past week I completed a draft of the story of E. and me -- which means that I can put it out for comment now. It remains some 10% short of a book -- yet this merely means weaving in some additional material, which is to hand. The book is well supported by photographs. It is much anticipated by many people, and extracts have had "rave reviews", yet it is still seeking a publisher.
The Plateau
In one way or another, I have often referred to The Plateau on this blog. Here is a photo of the small cottage (in the background) where E. and I stayed this past week. The plateau is reached via a long dirt pass -- the Suuranys Pass. It is a plateau that lies above the Langkloof, which is several hundred kilometres east of Cape Town. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 240k.
Culture And Church
The previous post suggested a number of ways of dealing with culture in the Church. To put it simply, and more theoretically, there may be four such ways: 1. Create a mono-culture in a Church, or 2. Suppress cultural distinctions (the basic theme of the previous post), 3. Openly come to terms with the issues, or 4. Celebrate cultural distinctions in the Church.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Cultural Issues
Some take the view: "Tread softly with cultural issues in the Church" -- that is, cultural issues which do not impinge on faith. Many practices in Africa are, in fact, common Biblical practices -- but would not be socially acceptable to some. My feeling is that one does no one a favour by pussy-footing around such issues for the sake of some people's qualms. It creates an atmosphere of tension, it tends to debase issues to gossip and rumour, and it tends to slip into worldly thinking: the way the world thinks. I think one needs to say: Here are the issues, here is why these things are acceptable within the Church, and here is how we need to discern. Not that one should be insensitive. OBSERVATION: Not all would agree. A more theoretical contemplation in the morning ...
Lichen Flowering
There is amazing beauty in our countryside, if one stops to notice. This is the first time, I think, that I have noticed lichen flowering. I photographed this at Suuranys in the Eastern Cape. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 300k.
Plateau Cuisine
For the past four days, I was up on a plateau with wife E.'s family, cut off from the world. It was beyond my radio Internet connection, which usually keeps me connected anywhere. Our cuisine included: stywe pap, sheep's stomach, potatoes, samp, maize rice, blesbok meat and liver, pumpkin, cabbage, vetkoek, curry chicken, roosterbrood. I had many cups of moerkoffie -- the first thing that some people look forward to when visiting the plateau. OBSERVATION: You might check which of the above you had in the past year. It's great food, although the sheep's stomach wouldn't be high on my list (too fatty).
Monday, May 12, 2014
Thembalethu
I am staying at the moment in Thembalethu (here pictured last night). I feel that it is a special privilege for me to traverse two cultures (or three) -- or to put it another way, to live in a "larger world". Next stop is Suuranys. But unless something has changed in Suuranys, I shall be beyond the reaches of the Internet.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Please Stay
Last year, I committed to one year of ministry in the Karoo. With this, I shifted down a gear or two from urban ministry. But soon, a year will be fulfilled. This weekend, the Council Chairman took me aside and said: "We would really like you to stay." OBSERVATION: I am seriously considering the request. The Karoo is a semi-desert, once a vast inland sea.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Nice But Nasty
This is the African thistle (Berkheya rigida) -- also found in Australia where it is invasive and labelled 'noxious'. It is nasty if touched, and may leave one with swollen fingers for days. It grows on my plot in Tesselaarsdal, east of Cape Town.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Cyber-Theft
Nothing on the planet, it seems, is free from "pestilence". My electronics book had just hit best-seller figures (rate of sale), when somebody staged a cyber-theft -- but a serious one. They took my entire book and offered it from an alternative source. At this moment, it looks as though authorities are closing in on the offender -- I signed off a directive this week. I received heartening support from an electronics editor who hunts such people down -- his was a swift and skilled chase. OBSERVATION: One works nearly twenty years to build up a stock of original material for publication, then in three minutes flat someone without a conscience sinks an All Rights, copyrighted work with a cyber-theft. One may obtain the book (legally) by clicking on the image on this blog, and through amazon.com and major online retailers.
The Fernery
Thursday, May 8, 2014
World Blog
For authority, this blog lies well within the world's top 1% of all blogs. Don't ask me why. In September last year, Jenny Hillebrand surprised me by listing my blog as the most authoritative Christian blog in Southern Africa. This would appear to remain true today -- according to Technorati (for what it's worth). My blog is 25% ahead of second placed Khanya, and 29% ahead of third placed Carpenter's Shoes.
Travels
My life has been characterised by travels recently -- mostly for ministry. Over two or three weeks, I am travelling (by road) more than 4000km/2500mi. That's farther than London to Timbuktu, or New York to Seatte. In the immediate future, what lies ahead is ministry in the Karoo, then a visit to wife E.'s parents, up on the plateau where she grew up. Up there, I shall probably be incommunicado. The photo shows some travelling partners last week.
Stump Speech
During my US studies, I had to learn to prepare a stump speech. Itinerant politicians in the USA would once stand on a stump to deliver a speech -- typically the same speech time and again -- but the speech needed to be tailored to the moment. For instance, a town hall or a whistle-stop. If only some ministers would have this skill -- when a service has gone over-time, or a cold snap sets in. OBSERVATION: My US stump speech assignments were on Titus and Philemon. I needed to be able to stand up and deliver five minutes or forty on demand, without cutting my message short.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
A Tall Tree
This one's a repost, from 2009. It reflects the kind of 'civic pressures' a minister may need to cope with: "Often people target a minister, even if the minister is the wrong target. Here’s an example. The Church dismissed a staff member for assault -- repeated assault -- on the Church premises. A commissioner called me in a fury, saying that he would have me up before a commission. I said: 'You need to approach the Church about this.' He refused to accept that. He said: 'You are the minister, and you will answer to the commission!' I said: 'I’ll really be of no use to you, and what then?' Often people find it hard to understand that a minister (typically) is not a CEO. There’s the saying: A tall tree catches the wind." OBSERVATION: When the commissioner came to understand the situation -- but it was touch and go at first, with the 'climate' he created -- he dropped the case.
Thaba Patshoa House
This is a characteristic house in Thaba Patshoa, built of dressed stone, with a single tap outside. The village was known for its stone-cutting in the past, although more recently its skilled workers seek employment outside the village. OBSERVATION: It is a strange village, for its relative isolation from the rest of the world. The owner was shy of her humble circumstances, but pleased when she saw this photograph. She thought it looked lovely.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Surveyor
I met with this man today, a well known surveyor in the Caledon area, just over 100km/60mi east of Cape Town -- a big, affable Afrikaner. He and an assistant located three pegs on my plot. He said that his equipment enables him, typically, to locate a position to within 1-2cm (less than an inch). Today, however, trees on my plot limited that to 5cm (2 inches). He quickly located three buried pegs which three men had searched for earlier in the day, unsuccessfully, with a tape measure. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 230k.
Bible To The People
I do receive the occasional complaint that my blog is neglecting urban ministry. We found it a challenge, in urban ministry, to bring people to the study of the Bible -- due to shift work, a lack of transport, a scattered congregation, unsafe streets, and so on. Therefore we decided to take the study of the Bible to the people -- chiefly through Bible studies and Bible dictionary topics which were distributed on a sheet of paper on a Sunday morning. From time to time, we distributed Bible study or devotional booklets. OBSERVATION: I know that this was appreciated. At the same time, there was some debate as to what expense one should go to. My own line was that once people have something in their hands, they are likely to read it -- rather than people being unlikely to read it so don't place it in their hands.
Coddling Cattle
In this post I shall describe a most efficient method for grazing cattle. I discovered the idea on my plot in the village Tesselaarsdal today. One needs to find, firstly, a suitable meadow that belongs to somebody else (in this case, me). To open a gate in the fence, however, could prove to be time-consuming. Therefore one drives the cattle straight through the fence, so as to flatten it (see the photo). Herding the cattle out by the same way that they came in may of course be further time-consuming. Therefore one herds the cattle out by flattening another part of the fence. (Another day in the life of a South African).
Monday, May 5, 2014
Thaba Patchoa Anglican
Corruption
Through ministry, particularly urban ministry, I have had much inside information on governance -- let's say the people who govern. I will say this: governance is corrupt. In my experience, I consider that one cannot speak of "ANC" governance, or "DA" governance, or any other kind of governance. In my experience, it is naive to suppose that this one is corrupt and that one is not. The reason I see for this is that corruption is endemic to our society. It is our way of going about things. It is everywhere. How will a corrupt society beget clean governance? OBSERVATION: However, this is not to overlook the very many people who are true and faithful, in governance too, to whom we owe the freedom, justice, and prosperity we do have.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Comfort Zone
I received a message today: "Glad you survived the missions trip -- think it was good you were morning chaplain." At 53, I am pleased I survived as I did. However, there were at least three people older than me -- one a 71-year-old woman who checked out of the old age home to travel to Lesotho! She said it had been very challenging, but great to step outside her comfort zone.
The Risk Of Review
To put a book out for review is a risk. One may be placing it in good hands, or one may be placing it in the hands of lunatics. One reviewer charged that my electronics book 6 or less was "madness" as it was published "without any form of testing or poof-reading" (that should read "proof-reading"). In fact the book is an anthology of previously published projects. That is, all of the projects were scrutinised by leading technical editors, then published (most of them worldwide), presumably constructed by readers, and all feedback forwarded to me. All of the circuits were scrutinised once more by electronics writers and designers before the anthology went to press. Each circuit was built and tested by me, too, as a minimum on a nickel breadboard. A prominent electronics editor commented on the above review last week: "[The reviewer] is one of THOSE. I have never seen such a rant or hatchet job." Thankfully, the book has also received what I think to be careful, balanced (and truthful) reviews, some of which are quoted in promotional material. OBSERVATION: It is a sobering reminder to check who one is handing free copies to for review. However, one can only be so careful, and even then one cannot prevent a "hatchet job". The book is: 6 or less: How To Really Do Something With Six Components (or less). The "hatchet job" was done on the previous, fourth edition.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Clap Hands
Name Swaps
I have noted on this blog that those of African origin frequently adopt 'European' names. It was interesting, on our missions expedition, that some Europeans were assigned African names. For instance, "Michelle" proved to be a tongue-twister for Sothos, therefore Michelle was renamed "Thabiseng". OBSERVATION: Africans are simply being practical in adopting European names, while Europeans I think feel quite honoured to receive African names.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Team Photo
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Missions United
Cold Expedition
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